Thursday, October 31, 2013

15 Months Old

Kieran! You are 15 months old yesterday!  You will go to the dr. next week when you and Svea have check-ups.  I think you are about 20 lbs. You love peanut butter bread for breakfast, peas, any type of meat, and almost any type of fruit.  Veggies are hard to get past that steal trap:)
 You love to play and read books.  You have started saying dog and Gaga this past month.  Your language is really starting to take off.  Tonight before bed you waved bye-bye to Dad and then clapped for yourself and laughed.  It was very cute.  You still love books and anything your sister is playing with.  She got a new dollhouse for her birthday and you love playing with that. You can moo, woof, and meow...a little.
 You're eating decently and sleeping about 12 hours at night with a 2-3 hour nap.  Our bedtime routine is to read a few books, pray, and then we get maybe 30 seconds of snuggle time with you.  You usually just want us to put you in your crib so you can go to sleep.  You watch me walk out of the room and I blow you kisses.  You don't usually say a peep and roll over and go to sleep.  You've always been super easy at going to bed at night.  It was the middle of the night that WAS hard.  You are still sleeping through the night super well!  We are so proud and more rested:)
 You are wearing size 12 month clothes and a size 4 diaper.  You eat three meals a day, drink whole milk, and have a few snacks.  You love taking baths and as soon as we start filling up the tub you are either trying to get your clothes off or trying to crawl into the tub all by yourself.  You've started to throw mini temper tantrums when you don't get your way.  You've got a set of lungs and scream!!!  Most of the time you are a happy and still laid back guy.  The last week has been really tough though at home and daycare.  You've been more ornery so we are watching you closely for teeth, ear infection, etc. 
 We love you Kieran!  You have a fun and silly personality.  We pray you continue to be happy and laid back enjoying life and all of the gifts God has given you.  We love you so much.  I get sad when it's time for you to go to bed and I work the next day since you go to bed so early:( You are a light in our lives.  Love you baby boy!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Happy 3rd Birthday Svea

 Happy 3rd birthday Svea!  We loved celebrating with a Minnie Mouse themed birthday party last weekend the day before your birthday!
 You had asked for a pink Minnie Mouse cake.  You liked the cupcakes best...I think and enjoyed blowing out your candles.
 Yum!
 Opening presents!
 I thought we would see a bunch of "O" faces, but you were pretty shell shocked or level headed. 
 Even though you didn't go crazy or show a ton of excitement you did love all of your presents and had fun with them all weekend.  We have been reading all of the books you received every night since and you have been playing babies and dollhouse constantly.
 We have a 3 year old!  Eek!
 Kind of funny:)
 Thank you Gaga for coming and all of the presents!  We asked Svea what the best part of her birthday was.  Most of the time she says family and sometimes it's presents or cupcakes:)
 Thank you Grandma and Grandpa D. for coming!  Svea had a blast having so many Grandparents here!  She told me today when we found Grandma's shoes that she forgot, "I want Grandma to come back to get her shoes because I love her"!
 Kayla came to visit at the party!
 Pin the bow on Minnie.  We played once:)
 She wouldn't wear the bandanna.
 These were on Sunday before church..or after.  I can't remember, but she was so proud of her Minnie Mouse pumpkin! Thank you Ottos!!!
 Being silly.  Daddy found this skirt for her.  It has Hello Kitty on it and it's a hit.  She has worn it the past 3 out of 4 days, I think.
 We played outside for about 7 minutes on Sunday afternoon.  There was some sun and Kieran had never played in the leaves before.  He liked it and kept trying to eat wood chips.  I still remember that fall when I first took Svea outside to play in the leaves when she was almost one....sigh:)
 Happy Birthday sweet girl!  You make us laugh, you challenge us, and you help everyone around you to become better people and most importantly happy.  You bring us so much joy.  We love you to the moon and back and God loves you most of all! 
Here is an interview with a 3 year old.  Love this!

1. What is your favorite color? pink
2. What is your favorite toy? Minnie Mouse
3. What is your favorite fruit?  vegetables (ha!)
4. What is your favorite tv show?  Minnie Mouse cartoon (she never watches Minnie Mouse cartoon)
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? spaghetti (she likes the meat sauce best)
6. What is your favorite thing to wear?  Minnie Mouse shirt
7. What is your favorite game? playing volleyball
8. What is your favorite snack?  crackers
9. What is your favorite animal?  Minnie Mouse
10. What is your favorite song? Amazing Grace
11. What is your favorite book? Dora
12. Who is your best friend?  Peyton (from daycare)
13. What is your favorite thing to eat for supper? mittens and crumbs (no idea:)
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? play volleyball
15. What is your favorite drink?  orange juice  (to our knowledge she's never had it)
16. What is your favorite place to go? to school to paint pumpkins
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? bunny
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  spaghetti
19. What do you want on your birthday?  cupcakes
20. What do you want to be when you grow up?  go to real school

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

MEA (Long) Weekend

 Dan had a super busy weekend and I NEEDED to see baby Kye in Mandan, so the kids and I packed up and headed for Jamestown.  We headed out Wednesday afternoon, got to Jamestown around 7:30, and bummed around the house for the first two days. 
 Papa and Lynn came over to the buffalo city on Friday to visit for a few hours and they also brought Svea and Kieran each a new bike.  Svea loves the neighbor kids' bikes so she was so excited to ride her new one!  I don't think the smile left her face the whole time Papa and she were out there. Super fun and cute!
 I tried getting a pic of the kids and the Grandparents, but only one child would cooperate and then not even very well.  Kieran loves his paci and gets pretty ornery without it.  We try our hardest to keep it away from him during the day, but sometimes he gets so fussy.  I imagine with a busy almost 3 year old we give in more quickly than we did with her.
 I wish Kieran would have looked, but it's still cute!  Thank you Papa and Lynn for coming over and for the gifts.  We've read every Clifford book at least 4 times and Kieran has had fresh, clean, and super warm jammies all week!
 Gaga reading to Kieran before bed..."hey, Ma, watcha doing?"
 On Saturday I headed to Bis/Man to see Jill and Matt's new baby Kye Carter Morrison:)  He is so precious and sweet.  I got to hold him a ton, interact with him, and just watch him.  Grandpa Ron helped the kids decorate some pumpkins.  Mom was with the kids most of the day and I got home right before Kieran's bedtime.
 It feels like yesterday Kieran was this small:)
 Jill looks awesome and is a great Mom!!!  Matt and Jill are going to be wonderful parents!
I teared up when I got there and when it was time to leave:(  I probably won't see him again until next summer and he'll be 9-10 months already....sigh!  It was a fun visit though.  I got to have lunch with my cousins, Dad, and Lynn.  I got to see my Aunt and Uncle Connie and even snuck in a visit with Matt and Lacee when I dropped off some shoes and coats for Livia!!!  Matt answered the door in a one piece Cookie Monster suit.  It made the visit that much more special!  Ha...things are crazy for them, but they are slowly getting adjusted to their new normal in Bismarck.  I loved getting to sit and listen to Jill tell all about  the night Kye was born too!
 Beautiful pumpkins designed by Bay-ya!  Yes, she still calls herself that...we are working on it:)
 On Saturday night I went out for a few drinks with my good friend Amber.  It turned into all night and we had a blast.  I haven't gotten to sit down and talk to her without her 4 girls or my 2 kids running around since my bachelorette party/wedding!  It was great! She's lost a ton of weight since July when I last saw her.  I barely recognized her!
Kieran was being so silly when we were there.  Each night he got really hyper around dinner time and was giggly, laughing, and boppin all over the place.  We would put the cardboard pieces down on the floor (used to darken Svea's bedroom) and he would just march forever, which is his version of dancing.
I was exhausted when we got home and could barely stay awake on the couch for awhile.  Dan was tired too....he couldn't sleep while we were away...go figure, when you have the house to yourself and no little ones to wake up then you can't sleep:(  He had a wedding on Saturday and went to the reception, worked, and watched tv shows that I am not as interested in:)
So far this week Svea had her last swimming lesson and Kieran is now mooing like a cow and can say cow! I can't stress how obsessed he is with books.  That is what he did the whole way and back from ND is just read his books! Dan is getting over the flu (he's already been out from work for two days) and we are praying he gets over it soon and the kids don't get it.  We have a big birthday party this weekend that we all need to be healthy for:)

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Picture Post

I am so far behind, but will eventually catch up!
 Kieran looking out the window after his nap. I caught him with the camera:)
 Svea and Kieran were playing around the gate the other day.  They look like they are in jail with all of their stripes!
 Let us out!
 Someone got upset:)
 Two Fridays ago we had a decent fall day in the morning and I snuck outside with the kids and we enjoyed a little crisp air.
 It rained ALL afternoon so I'm glad we got out there!
 Kieran climbed on my back the other night and was hugging my neck and smiley!  Dan caught some fun moments for us!
 The afternoon it rained I got these window stickers out for Svea and she played with them for 45 minutes straight just rearranging them.  She loved them!
 Playing doctor with her babies:)
 Notice the white lab coat....we even made sure to get her swimming suit cover up so that she could play the part!
We're doing really well.  No one has been too sick (knock on wood).  I think Dan had one or two colds, but the kids have been good so far. Svea is ready for her last night of swimming lessons and her 3rd birthday party is coming up this weekend!  We are excited to celebrate with Grandparents and maybe a few friends.  She is thrilled it's coming up.  Kieran is turning into a little ham and Mr. Personality.  Lately he's been loving to dance and he's throw in a couple of new words.  Yes, No, Hi, Woof, Caw....I think that's it.  When he says yes and no he shakes his head the correct way.  He is just so much fun! Dan had a busy weekend and the kids and I went to North Dakota.  I HAD to meet Kye before the snow flies and I couldn't get out there.  My cousin Jill and Matt's new baby...Kye Carter Morrison....he was so precious and I'm so thankful I got to meet him!  We missed Daddy and home and we're just buckling up for another busy week.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Wicked!

 Dan and I had the chance to go and see Wicked this past weekend with my cousin Josh and his wife Cindy!  They drove down for the weekend from Mandan and it was something we had planned since the Carter Family reunion.  I went to bed early the only night Dan was there and he and my cousins stayed up until 2:30 in the morning coming up with this plan.  It was a great plan:)
 We stayed in downtown Minneapolis, walked to dinner, and then walked to the Orpheum. The play was amazing!!!  I think I could watch it every night.  I got into the music much more the second time around and we listened to the cd all day in the car as we had a date day shopping around the cities! That is one thing Dan and I love to do together.  Not too many men would like that, but he is one of my favorite shopping partners:)
 Me and Cindy!
Us at The Rockbottom after the play.  We stayed out until 2 in the morning and it was fun to play like our younger days:) My Mom came and stayed with Svea and Kieran!  Thank you MOM!!!  I am so sad that Kieran is done nursing, but it's like a whole new world.  I love that period of time with both of the kids, but you do feel like there is still a chord attached to the two of you.  Both kids slept through the night (Kieran has been consistently for 2.5 weeks now) and they had a great time with Gaga!

So far this school year has been going well with balancing our work schedules and the kids.  I had conferences this past week and wasn't home Monday or Thursday night.  Dan put in some overtime and I missed seeing Kieran for 48 hours.  I'm so glad it's over!